Wednesday, July 29, 2015

We've just returned from our family holiday in Jersey in the Channel Islands, just last night in fact, and I couldn't wait to get these pictures uploaded to see how they looked on a bigger screen - it's hard to take in all the detail when images are still on the camera. Jacek and I really wanted to visit Jersey Lavender Farm to capture some beautiful pictures of our boy amongst the purple flowers and to also pick up some lavender and oil to help us in getting to sleep (I find it so hard to drift off to sleep and stay asleep so hopefully these things will work!).

I visited Jersey Lavender Farm as a child with my grandparents and was really looking forward to seeing it again, this time with my own child in tow. I dressed him in his beautiful Peter Rabbit yellow vintage romper - the colour being a perfect contrast against the purple blooms. I absolutely loved the images I captured of my son. At first he was apprehensive about going amongst the lavender and just wanted to stay with his father and I, but after awhile he became more adventures and even went so far as to pick some heads of lavender, before trying to put it back on the stem! They had two lovely, old-fashioned swings hanging from trees in the farm and of course my boy had to have a go on the 'see-saw'. He looked so sweet sitting on it with his little sailor doll which we picked up in the gift shop on our way into the farm (yes we do things backwards!).

It was such a lovely calming spot and I really could have sat there all day watching the butterflies and bees buzzing amongst the blooms, there were so many of them and the fields were a hive of activity. I was so glad we visited and I'll be adding these pictures to my sons travel journal which was very kindly given to my son by my dad's ever thoughtful girlfriend Shirley, she really does have a heart of gold and it was such a sweet sentiment. It's lovely for him to be able to have things like this to look back on from his toddler travels.

If you ever find yourself in Jersey I would highly recommend a trip to the lavender farm, it's such a beautiful spot and in my opinion, it's worth a trip just for the photo opportunities alone. I shall be sharing more about our experience there and more pictures of the farm on my other blog Dolly Dowsie soon.

Sunday, July 19, 2015

It's Sunday and that means it's The Wonderland Link-Up time. I haven't done a lot of blogging on either of my blogs this week as I just haven't felt inspired to write, so I've made sure to take lots of photos this weekend to give me some inspiration.

The idea of The Wonderland Link-Up came from comments I received from people on some of my photography posts saying that my captures looked like they were from another world, a fairyland of sorts. So, as a huge Alice in Wonderland fan I thought - "why can't there be wonderlands here on Earth?"
The point of The Wonderland Link-Up is to share any pictures you took during the week which made you stop and think "wow!". They could be photos of places and moments that were super magical to you and which seemed like they could be from another, perfect or weird and wonderful world. So please do share the magic in your photography or the world around you with us all.

The Wonderland Link-Up will take place every Sunday and shall run until Wednesday for entries. I shall be commenting on the entries myself over the coming days and look forward to seeing some beautiful images that inspired you and made you feel a bit awe-struck for awhile after you captured them. A big thank you to the lovely ladies who linked up last week - Channon from Sunshine By Channon and Merlinda from Glimmer of Hope, you can see their link-ups here.

This is my picture for week three and I really do love it. Yesterday my boys and I visited one of our favourite haunts again, Fota House and Garden, and I loved capturing photos of all the beautiful flowers in the walled garden. These flowers really caught my eye, I love the pink and purple colouring of them and the shape of the petals reminds me of little fairy dresses - so pretty. I really like how this shot came out as the wind was blowing strongly and it was hard to capture but the blurred flowers in the background and the shape of the bowing stem and flowers is something I really like.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Last Sunday I started The Wonderland Link-Up, a photography based link-up which I've been wanting to host for quite awhile now. The idea of The Wonderland Link-Up came from comments I received from people on some of my photography posts saying that my captures looked like they were from another world, a fairyland of sorts. So, as a huge Alice in Wonderland fan I
thought - "why can't there be wonderlands here on Earth?"

The point of The Wonderland Link-Up is to share any pictures you took during the week which made you stop and think "wow!". They could be photos
of places and moments that were super magical to you and which seemed
like they could be from another, perfect or weird and wonderful world.
So please do share the magic in your photography or the world around you
with us all. The
Wonderland Link-Up will take place every Sunday and shall run until
Wednesday for entries. I shall be commenting on the entries myself over
the coming days and look forward to seeing some beautiful images that
inspired you and made you feel a bit awe-struck for awhile after you
captured them. A big thank you to the four lovely ladies who linked up last week - Ceri from Life With Bumps, Chubskulit from Sailors Musings, Aoife from Aoife Weefa and Nadia from Walks In Beauty, you can see their link-ups here.

My picture for week two is one which really did make me say "wow!". I've been looking for poppies all summer and I finally came across this little patch last week when I was pet sitting my mothers friends dogs. I revisited the poppies yesterday with my proper camera as I only had my phone with me when I saw them last week. I think they really do have a magical appearance to them and I love the there were purple ones mixed in with the red. I love poppies, they're so majestic and pretty and this shot really gives me a sense of a summer meadow.

I am also linking this photo up as part of OneDad3Girls #MySundayPhoto Thank you for taking part and have a lovely week, hopefully full of magic, joy and wonder...

Monday, July 6, 2015

I always thought that lilies were my favourite flower, but these days I've been so obsessed with taking pictures of pretty roses I see when out or about in gardens that I'm starting to think I may have a new winner for my floral affections. I was in a garden over the weekend which had masses of different varieties of rose, there were so many beautiful colours to look at and funnily enough, the colour palette of them all actually reminded me of the Disney princess dresses - can you guess which rose goes with each princess?

I wasn't the only one loving the roses, a beautiful butterfly lay on a pale peach coloured rose for ages, it just didn't want to move, I even had time to go back to my car and get my camera to capture it. What's sad to see is rose buds with decaying leaves already, I have no idea what causes this but I'm guessing the pitiful summer we've been having here in Ireland hasn't helped matters. It's sad to see something so beautiful die away before it's had a chance to blossom.

A song I was reminded of was My Favourites Things from The Sound of Music as most of the roses has raindrops on them... "raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favourite things..."

Sunday, July 5, 2015

For quite awhile now I've wanted to run a weekly link-up focused on photography but wanted to make it somewhat unique from the other great photography link-ups that are running to, my favourites being My Sunday Photo by OneDad3Girls and Living Arrows by I Heart Snapping (which sadly doesn't seem to be running anymore but I took part in it for a year last year). This is where the idea for The Wonderland Link-Up came from. I often take pictures that people say look like they're from some kind of fairyland or other world, so as a huge Alice in Wonderland fan I thought - "why can't there be wonderlands here on Earth?"

The point of The Wonderland Link-Up is to share any pictures you took during the week which made you stop and think "wow!". They could be photos of places and moments that were super magical to you and which seemed like they could be from another, perfect or weird and wonderful world. So please do share the magic in your photography or the world around you with us all. The Wonderland Link-Up will take place every Sunday and shall run until Wednesday for entries. I shall be commenting on the entries myself over the coming days and look forward to seeing some beautiful images that inspired you and made you feel a bit awe-struck for awhile after you captured them.

This is my picture for the first week of this link-up. I absolutely love everything about this picture - the pale pink, delicate roses, the clear, bright blue sky and the hint of clouds, I just think it's so pretty and I was delighted to capture this shot. The sun had been glaring as I took it so I couldn't see the camera screen to check the shot after I took it but when I uploaded it to the laptop I really did think "wow, that's beautiful!", plus, I can never resist pink roses.Thank you for taking part and have a lovely week, hopefully full of magic, joy and wonder...

Friday, July 3, 2015

My love for upcycling has grown in leaps and bounds ever since my shabby chic chairs upcycle back in May. I currently have some projects on the go and am really enjoying transforming something old, worn and not too aesthetically pleasing into something beautiful, stylish and injected with a new lease of life.

This armchair in particular was one of the ugliest pieces of furniture I have ever laid eyes on. It was so dark and dreary with its super dark wood and dark velour upholstery in a horrible old cottage design, it was the complete opposite of my style when it comes to furniture and I was keen to make it over and into something pretty. Whats more is that I was able to make this upcycle completely costless by using materials I already had around my home. Making something beautiful for free is always a great feeling, especially when you're delighted with the results, just like I am with my chair.

I choose to upcycle this armchair in a pastel theme as I wanted to include it as part of my Popsicle brief for for my Graham & Brown ambassador role on my other blog Dolly Dowsie, a role which I have since given up but I was thankful for the inspiration it brought me.

The paint I used was Disney's Cinderella's Perfect Pastel, paint I left over from another project and which actually turned out to be a lot lighter than I expected but still lovely nonetheless. I chose not to sand the chair before painting and just set to work straight away. This chair eventually had to have six coats to transform it from super dark to the very light colour you see above and whilst it was tedious (I chould have chosen to use a spray paint which would have been a lot quicker), I think the end result was totally worth it. When the last coat has been applied I was really happy with the colour, it's so pretty and combined with the stripy seat covers, it has a real beach hut vibe to it I think and that's a look I love.

I was going to buy fabric and have my Nan make some cushion covers for the armchair but it was all getting a bit expensive and extra work so I looked for another solution. I had a single duvet cover in the hot press which was doing nothing - we have no single beds in our house and it is such a pretty design that I felt it was a shame not to put it to use so I decided it would be perfect for the armchair. I simply popped the two chair cushions into the duvet, propped them up on the armchair as they should be and tucked in the sides and middle to make it look seamless and fitted - it was as simple as that! What's more is that you can actually sit on and make use of the chair and the duvet doesn't move or pull - I've put it to the test! What's even better is that if the duvet gets dirty you can simple take it off, wash it and put it back on quickly and easily again.

I then used a cushion I had for the Popsicle brief to prop on the armchair, this is the Dream Cushion, just as a finishing touch but as someone who has a love of cushions and many of them in her bedroom, I could have used any of them to prop on the chair too.

I absolutely love the transformation of the armchair, the pastel theme is absolutely perfect for it and I love how the pink stripe on the duvet matches the pink of the paint perfectly. I was delighted to be able to complete this project with no cost at all. Everyone has old discarded pots of paint, duvets and cushions lying around their home or in the shed I'm sure, so why not put them to use and make something beautiful?

This chair is now in the cottage next to my parents house and it suits the cottage vibe very well I think. There is a rocking armchair to match this armchair and I shall be upcycling that sometime in the near future too, although I'm not too sure whether to do it the same as this or completely different, what do you think?